A chief cook (often shortened to cook) is a senior unlicensed crewmember working in the steward's department of a merchant ship.
The chief cook directs and participates in the preparation and serving of meals; determines timing and sequence of operations required to meet serving times; inspects galley and equipment for cleanliness and proper storage and preparation of food. The cook may plan or assist in planning meals and taking inventory of stores and equipment.
A chief cook's duties may overlap with those of the steward's assistant, the chief steward, and other steward's department crewmembers.
In the United States Merchant Marine, in order to be occupied as a chief cook a person has to have a Merchant Mariner's Document issued by the United States Coast Guard. Because of international conventions and agreements, all chief cooks who sail internationally are similarly documented by their respective countries.
Famous quotes containing the words chief and/or cook:
“When we consider what, to use the words of the catechism, is the chief end of man, and what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear. It is never too late to give up our prejudices.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“A monarchy is like a man-of-warbad shots between wind and water hurt it exceedingly; there is a danger of capsizing. But democracy is a raft. You cannot easily overturn it. It is a wet place, but it is a pretty safe one.”
—Flavius Josephus Cook (18381901)